Beverage Giant Coca-Cola is Killing its Zico Coconut Water Line

According to a Wall Street Journal report from this past weekend, Coca-Cola is dropping its “Zico” Coconut water from its line of products as the company focuses on narrowing down its brands.

A source familiar with the situation told WSJ that the company is additionally reviewing its range of soft drinks products such as “Diet Coke Feisty Cherry,” a low-calorie drink “Coke Life” and regional drinks such as “Northern Neck Ginger Ale” and “Delaware Punch.”

A spokesperson for Coca-Cola told the Journal that Zico will be phased out by the end of the year most likely.

Zico was acquired by the company in 2013 and was reportedly the second-largest coconut water brand in the United States.

“This decision was not made lightly and comes at a time when we are focused on delivering on our consumers’ wants and needs while driving scaled growth across a total beverage portfolio,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

It was this past July that the soft drink giant announced it would discontinue juice and smoothie brand Odwalla. The company shortly after said it would dump other “zombie brands,” or those that aren’t growing, to help cut costs.

In the first half of last year, Coca-Cola eliminated more than 275 products.

Coca-Cola is all set to introduce its first-ever alcoholic beverage after nearly four decades in 2021. The “hard seltzer” drink would be launched under its Topo Chico brand, premiering in Mexico followed by the U.S, according to a CNBC report.

The company announced recently that it’s cutting thousands of jobs and reducing its number of business units. Coca-Cola said it will offer voluntary layoff packages to employees who qualify, starting with about 4,000 workers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico who were hired on or before Sept. 1, 2017.

The coronavirus pandemic led the company’s second-quarter earnings to fall 33%.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.